Six men who can win the U.S. Open

Rafael Nadal, 24, Spain
No. 1 seed
With defending champion Juan Martin Del Potro out (still rehabilitating a surgical wrist), Roger Federer lately rendered human and other contenders seen to have one failing or another, this is widely considered Nadal’s best chance to win his first Open and a ninth major. If he does, talk of “greatest in history” will be deafening.

Roger Federer, 29, Switzerland
No. 2 seed
Still on the right side of formidable, Federer continues to send out clear signals that he doesn’t intend to go away quietly just because he recently, though briefly, slipped to No. 3 in the rankings. He already has the career record for major titles, but four more — for a total of 20 — are reasonable, he said.

Andy Murray, 23, Great Britain
No. 4 seed
For a few years now, Brit fans have been hoping Murray would be the man to figuratively knock Fred Perry — the last male British player to win a major tournament and immortalized in a statue celebrating his 1934-36 Wimbledon titles at that hallowed site — off his plinth.

Novak Djokovic, 23, Serbia
No. 3 seed
Never below No. 3 in the rankings since mid-2007, and champion of the 2008 Australian Open, Djokovic nevertheless is still seeking a se- cond major title — he hasn’t been past a Grand Slam semifinal since that Australian win — and lately has been affected by a mysterious breathing problem. Al- ways a challenger, but he’s 0-3 vs. Top 10 players this year.

Tomas Berdych, 24, Czech Republic
No. 7 seed
In this breakthrough year, the rangy 6-5 Berdych beat Murray on his way to the French Open semifinals and knocked off Federer and Djokovic, back-to-back, on his way to the Wimbledon final, where he was beaten by Nadal. He calls hardcourt his favorite surface but never has gotten past the fourth round in either of the hardcourt Slams.

Robin Soderling, 26, Sweden
No. 5 seed
He knocked Nadal and Federer, respectively, out of the French Open the past two years, both times leading to a runner-up finish, but otherwise hasn’t been past the quarterfinals of majors, and his better results have come on clay courts.

As for the top Americans:
Andy Roddick, 27, No. 9 seed, is just over a case of mononucleosis and neither Sam Querrey, No. 20 seed, 22 years old, nor John Isner, No. 18 seed, 25 years old, has been too troublesome in Open tune-ups.